Raw materials are materials which are changed in some way to make a new material.

Oil is the raw material from which plastics are made. Wood is the raw material from which paper is made. Bauxite is the ore of aluminium and the raw material from which aluminium is produced. Haematite is the ore of iron, and the raw material from which iron is produced. Clay is the raw material of pottery.

Raw materials may be changed by mixing them together and by heating.

Some raw materials may be renewable or non-renewable. Wood is a renewable resource because more trees can be planted to replace those that have been used. Bauxite and haematite are non-renewable materials. Once used they cannot be replaced. We can help to make non-renewable materials last longer by recycling (see recycle search term). Cans made of steel and aluminium are examples of recycling. They can be collected and remelted so the metal can be used again.

In cooking, raw materials are known as ingredients. So flour is a raw material for making bread, and so on.

In the video below, a decorative doorstep in the shape of a heritage locomotive was been cast from the raw material iron and the coated in the raw material paint. The iron was made from the raw material iron ore, which is a rock, while the raw material of paint was oil.